The Defense Department wound down the last of 48 federal vaccination sites manned by troops across the country with the closing of a New Jersey facility Sunday after service members vaccinated nearly 5 million people nationally.
The effort by 5,100 active-duty service members that began in February spanned medical personnel from across the services and acted in addition to the National Guard’s support of state and local vaccination sites across the nation. Guard members were called by their governors to help administer 12 million vaccines.
“The last federally supported community vaccination center, which was located in New Jersey, conducted its final day of operations yesterday,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told defense reporters Monday.
The federal effort began in February, when President Joe Biden asked the DOD to prepare up to 10,000 soldiers to fan across the country and help vaccinate 100 million people. As the national vaccination rate surpassed 60% and vaccination hesitancy remains, the Federal Emergency Management Agency effort was deemed no longer necessary.
Hellbound and Down 